St. Paul: Nonprofit Small Sums has big impact on 'new homeless'

Terre Thomas is the Client & Partner Coordinator at Small Sums, a St. Paul non-profit which makes small grants to the homeless and the recently unemployed, to help them get back to work by paying for their license renewals or basic workplace tools and necessities like bus cards, work boots and hammers. The photos covering the wall are of clients who have received help from Small Sums. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

From her office deep inside a University Avenue warehouse, Terre Thomas is worrying about the "new homeless."

She has seen an increase in able-bodied workers who, in many cases, enjoyed stable careers before the Great Recession wiped out their jobs, homes and savings. For the most part, the clients she serves through Small Sums aren't living under bridges.

Instead, they need help getting a plumber's license renewed or their chef's aprons restocked, a situation many never expected.

"You lose your job, and you think you're going to get one in a month or two, and two or three months snowballs into six to nine months," said Thomas, former owner of the Fairy Godmother curio shop in Minneapolis' Calhoun Square.

Thomas, a former political marketing consultant and newspaper columnist, joined the tiny nonprofit Small Sums two years ago, about the time it relocated from Minneapolis to St. Paul to take advantage of free office space inside the Cheapo Records Landfill warehouse. Cheapo CEO Alan Brown sits on the organization's board of directors, as do executives from Ohio discounter Marc's Stores, Engelsma Construction, Muska Electric and Franklin National Bank.

Thomas and director Katherine Olson are the nonprofit's only employees, and the two manage a relatively minuscule annual budget of $100,000. Volunteers help them schedule clients, write grants and prepare the annual gala fundraiser, which took place Saturday, Nov.

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3, at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church in Minneapolis.

In 2009, Small Sums helped 242 clients purchase work tools, renew certifications or buy Metro Transit fare cards. Another 10 self-employed clients received modest help running their own business, with grants of up to $2,500 to cover expenses such as paying the phone bill.

In 2010, the number of clients grew to 306, including four small-business owners. Last year, Small Sums served 416 clients. Thomas and Olson expect to reach 500 clients by the end of this year or next.

David Wilson, 22, counts himself among their happiest customers. When his mother moved out of state, the former Richfield resident found himself sleeping on friends' couches, staying at a Salvation Army shelter in Minneapolis and even sleeping in cars to get by.

"I was homeless for about six months to a year, and I started to reach out to the community, looking for a job," Wilson said. He received an offer from a Minneapolis firm to work as a security guard, but Wilson was expected to provide his own uniform. That posed a problem.

"Terre was all ears. She was eager to help and wanted to know more about my professional life, as well as my personal life," Wilson said. "That was neat of her. She asked me what I needed. I told her I needed a uniform -- EMT pants, a flashlight. And I needed my professional license to get a higher position in employment.

"I believe that exact day, she went ahead and issued me a $158 bus card, which helped me tremendously, because I didn't have any transportation," he recalled.

Thomas later accompanied him to get an updated state ID and the professional security license necessary to work in armored cars and other secure environments.

"It opens up the door for different companies to hire me," Wilson said.

He now lives in a Minneapolis apartment, which allows him more frequent visits with his two sons, ages 6 and 4.

Thomas points to the experience of Vernon Blanchard and his wife, Sharka, who both held steady work before the recession. The two also had an apartment, savings and a 401(k) retirement account. Vernon Blanchard, a welder, was laid off from his job, so the couple got by on unemployment insurance and Sharka Blanchard's earnings as a nursing assistant.

Sharka Blanchard was laid off about the time her husband's unemployment benefits ran out, and the two quickly went through their savings and retirement money trying to keep their housing.

It wasn't enough, and the couple ended up in a People Serving People shelter in Minneapolis with their four children.

"They did everything right, and they're kind of this new wave of homeless people that got caught by the economic downturn," Thomas said.

Small Sums bought new welding tools for Vernon Blanchard, who is now a union metal worker, and bought a bus card for Sharka Blanchard, who found temporary jobs. Three months later, the family moved into their own home in Crystal.

Marquette Thornton, a cook with 15 years' experience, had been out of work for two years when he got a job in the kitchen of a restaurant at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. What he didn't have was black, no-slip shoes and a Metro Transit fare card to get to work from North Minneapolis.

Small Sums helped Thornton, a father of three girls, with both challenges, and he soon restarted his career.

"The difference between homeless unemployed workers and other unemployed workers is they don't have family or friends who are financially able to help them," said Olson, the organization's director. "So we have to be their family and friends."